A background check or background investigation is the process of looking up public records, commercial records and financial records (in certain instances such as employment screening) about a person. It was often done when someone applies for a job but mostly for those that requires high security or position of trust like a school, hospital, bank, airport, in law enforcement, etc. It is traditionally done by the police but is now most often purchased as a service from a private business. Information usually includes the following: past employment, credit worthiness, and criminal history. These checks are important because they allow better informed and less-subjective evaluations to be made about a person. However, they also pose risks including improper and illegal discrimination, identity theft, and violation of privacy.

Pre-employment screening

Pre-employment screening is used to verify the accuracy of an applicant's claims as well as to discover any possible criminal history, workers compensation claims, or employer sanctions.

The problem screening tries to counter

A number of annual reports, including BDO Hayward's Fraudtrack 4 and CIFAS's (the UK's fraud prevention service) 'The Enemy Within' have showed a rising level of major discrepancies and embellishments on CVs over previous years.Such business fraud cost United Kingdom businesses 1.4 bn in 2005.

Almost half (48%) of organizations with fewer than 100 staff experienced problems with vetted employees.

39% of UK organizations have experienced a situation where their vetting procedures have allowed an employee to be hired who was later found to have lied or misrepresented themselves in their application.

However, recent research shows a reverse in the trend. They found that in the 2006/7 period CV discrepancies had fallen by 31% to 13%.

The Market

Larger companies are more likely to outsource than their smaller counterparts – the average staff size of the companies who outsource is 3,313 compared to 2,162 for those who carry out in-house checks.

Financial services firms had the highest proportion of respondents who outsource the service, with over a quarter (26%) doing so, compared to an overall average of 16% who outsource vetting to a third party provider.

The construction and property industry showed the lowest level of outsourcing, with 89% of such firms in the sample carrying out checks in-house. there for making the overall average 16%. This can increase over the years.

Types of Checks

• Employment References

• Education Verification - School grades, degree and any professional qualifications obtained

• Character Reference Check

• Gaps in employment history

• Identity and Address Verification - whether the applicant is who he or she claims to be. Generally includes verification of the candidate's present and previous addresses. Can include a money laundering, identity and terrorist check and one to verify the validity of passports.